Sylvie

“Vera Carver, at your service.”  She bowed to both vampires. “My blood is thinner than it used to be, or I would offer like in the old days.”  Vera pointed to the cupcakes, “I am a pretty good baker and derived the jam a few years ago.  So, if you could pass on that I make food with my blood, it should resolve any issues.”

Stretching as she stood up, Sylvie nodded gently to Vera. “I will pass it along.  There is always a risk though, which I am sure you are well aware of.”

“I am, Mistress.”  Vera gently offered and looked at the clock. “The jerk usually gets home about this time.  Don’t forget B-8.”  Vera raised one eyebrow, “If you were also inclined, there is a drug house across the lot from them.  You can’t miss it, the police ignore it and take the kickback.”

Casey laughed, “It seems like we are quickly becoming vigilantes, Sylvie.”

“We can easily handle this, Casey.”  Sylvie sighed, “The good part is that no one will come looking at what happened.”

Politely excusing themselves, Sylvie and Casey exited Vera’s apartment and darted through the shadows until they were within a few feet of the two stoned guys in the car that protected the lab apartment. “I think we start here, get in quietly and take down the whole thing before any alarms get tripped.”  Sylvie then pointed to apartment B-8. “Then we handle that guy, and give her the money we find in this cesspit.”

Casey slid her arms around Sylvie’s waist, “Sounds like a good plan.”  Casey whispered into Sylvie’s ear. “How do you plan to stop the alarms?”

When the word alarms resonated within Sylvie’s mind, the world around her seemed to get smaller and she couldn’t help but lean back into Casey’s arms.

—

An orange light explosion erupted from the back door that the two stoned men were guarding, enveloping them in a long gout of flame. When the orange-red ball of destruction sucked back into the building, it blew out the windows and doors along the entire apartment building.  Rattling the rest of the complex, the cheap brick that they’d used tumbled and fell inward sending all the apartments onto the ground.

Screams of help and pain preceded Sylvie seeing many people dragging themselves out of the burning wreckage, sometimes missing a limb.  A few others collapsed in the powder of their own drugs and died on the spot.

-Since we weren’t blown out along with everyone else, this is a quick warning against doing a direct attack.-

Quickly looking around for her confirmation that this was a true tangent, Sylvie spotted the eclipse coming from the embrace that the couple was currently in.

-Nothing like having your own sunshine.-

Letting the rest of the scene play out, Sylvie witnessed that the police arrived first and with the proper gear to breathe while in the burning building.  Uncaring about the dealers bleeding out on the ground, the corrupt officers grabbed the cash they could from all the basements until the fire department arrived.

-And we still didn’t stop the abusive father.-

When the paramedics arrived and started to pull out people who had gotten sick from the dust in the air, they quickly taped off the entire area saying the entire apartment complex was inhabitable.

-We need a better plan.-

—

“I felt that, Sylvie.”  Casey commented happily. “You just had a vision.”

Nodding her head in affirmation, Sylvie turned to face Casey with a smile on her face. “We can’t just go in there and take over.  Something in the main drug building will cause it to explode, sending whatever is in those apartments all over the complex itself.  I do believe we will need a bit of stealth to pull this off.”  She winked at Casey. “I have to teach you how to use your gas form, we can blend in pretty easily that way.”  She wiggled one finger, “Just be aware that it uses a ton of blood, so you might end up going into a blood haze.”

“Okay.”  Casey laughed and pointed to the abuser's apartment, “Want to take care of them first?”  Casey turned to go back into Vera’s apartment only to find the old blood bunny standing right beside her. “Vera, would you mind taking care of the mother and child?  You would get a second chance to have a small family.”

Handing both the vampires another cupcake, Vera smiled. “It would be my pleasure, Mistresses.  The only thing I would need is a bit of support.  I have a minimal and fixed income, that is why I am still in this place.”

Tapping on her ruby red lips for a few seconds, Sylvie spoke up. “When we go to remove that drug den, how about we get you the proceeds that they’ve collected?”  She paused, “It should also help the woman get her life on track so maybe all three of you can get out of this place.”

Clapping with excitement, Vera nodded. “I love this plan.”  She paused, “Yes, I will do it.”

Sylvie assisted Vera back into her apartment, “Hunker down just in case, since I have no idea how this is going to turn out.”  She kissed the elder woman on the cheek, “You have been a wonderful help.”  Waiting until she watched Vera disappear down into her basement, Sylvie spun on her heels and faced Casey. “Now then.”  Clamping her hand with Casey’s, Sylvie walked around to the front of the buildings and headed for apartment B-8. “I promised you that I would teach you gaseous form.”  Stopping in a shadow, Sylvie smiled. “You probably already know that blood is everything, right?”

Casey shook her head with a smile on her face. “I figured that out fairly quickly with Faye.”

“Good.”  Sylvie pulled Casey into her arms and leaned against the brick wall. “It empowers all that we have.  Some of our abilities use almost none, others use a great deal.”  Sylvie paused, “Gas form is one of those heavy drains.”  She paused, “While you are young, use it sparingly, unless you have a ready supply of blood handy.”

“Okay.”  Casey cooed as she relished the closeness of Sylvie pressed against her. “Please take as long as you want to explain it.”  She giggled.

A heavenly chill went down Sylvie’s spine and she almost forgot what she was saying. “I-I-um, gas f-form.”  Once she regained her composure, Sylvie gave Casey a quick kiss. “It’s easy.  I think of myself as a cloud or a mist coming from water and I just change.”

“Oh, I like that.”  Casey exclaimed.  Summoning her blood to do her bidding, Casey thought about a light mist on a pond and felt herself change into a thin fog.  Initially surprised at the ease in which she converted herself, she recalled watching Faye struggle with it on the yacht even with Vivienne coaching her. 

“Don’t hesitate, Casey.  You seem lost in thought.  Quickly before you run out of blood.”  Sylvie carefully coaxed.

Reminded of her duty, Casey pushed the fond memory away and glided through the bottom of the door just in time to witness the abuse that was taking place.  First, the little boy had been beaten to a pulp with visible bruising around his eyes and cheeks along with a thin dribble of blood coming from his young lip.  Noticing that the little boy hadn’t moved, Casey surmised that the boy was pretending to be knocked out or truly was as to not bring more ire from his father.  Second was the ongoing battle with the young wife and the father. Unlike the boy on the floor, The mother was fighting back with all she had.  When the man swung she jabbed back in any space that she could connect with.  Her condition wasn’t much better than that of her son, with red welts and bruising all over her visible body.  A gash from some sharp object had split the skin over one of her eyebrows and drained blood over her eyes.

“Bitch!  You can’t even make a fuck’n cheeseburger.”  The man stopped the beating for a couple seconds. “Maybe if you had a closer look at the pan you could figure out how to make food.”  He jumped off the sofa where he had his wife pinned and grabbed the frying pan that was on the floor. “Now then, let’s see if you can learn.”